CHAPTER 4: THE CHASE
The experience only seemed to have lasted a minute. It was a strange sensation. The stars elongated, and the two men within NightHawk looked as if they were moving in slow motion. Jake looked at the rearview screen and caught a glimpse of the wormhole. As soon as he glanced, the hole closed upon itself and disappeared. Jake wondered. What would have happened if NightHawk was caught in the middle of the hole when it closed? They probably would have been crushed to death. The thought shot chills up his spine.
"Look out!" yelled Skip.
Jake looked up. There wasn't any time to move out of the way. The object slammed into the cockpit plasma shield of NightHawk. Luckily, since the design of the original Mars I Space Shuttle, every new spacecraft that had been constructed was fitted with plasma shields. The reason plasma was used was to provide the astronauts within larger views, and plasma protected the crews from the vacuum of space.
"What was that we hit?"
"I think it was our missing satellite," Skip replied.
Jake and Skip both looked ahead through the plasma shield. Mars II was directly in front of them, and below the shuttle was a planet that looked a lot like Earth. The planet had blue oceans and continents, but they were shaped differently.
Jake looked just past the planet and saw two moons. "Uh, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto."
Skip laughed. "Yeah, I think you're right, Dorothy. This is awesome. We are actually in another solar system! Amazing!"
"And just think, Skip, you are going to go down in history as the man who discovered wormholes."
"I think that honor will go to your dad. He and his crew were the first to travel through one, remember." Skip pointed toward the planet. "Do you think your dad is on that planet?"
"There's only one way to find out." Jake slowly fired the reverse thrusters and shut down the aft thrusters to come to a complete stop. "Taylor. Are you okay? Taylor, come in ?"
Sadness suddenly overcame Jake. Didn't Taylor survive the transport through the wormhole? Why was he not answering? "Taylor, come in. Tay-"
"Ja ? Jake, is that you?"
"Yes. Are you okay?"
Taylor sounded groggy. "I think so. I was monitoring your ? uh, descent to Mars when I felt the shuttle shake. ? Uh, the force was so great ? it ripped my chair right from its bolts. I think it flew back, and I hit my head on the control panel. ? Yeah, I think that's what happened. ? I'm bleeding badly, and there's blood all over the computer panel at the back of the flight deck. I-It must have knocked me out ? while you were on your way to the surface of Mars ? um ?"
"Taylor, are you sure you are okay?" Jake asked again.
"What, oh yeah, what was I saying? Oh yeah, while you were on your way, I deployed a video probe so that NASA could see the shuttle and that we were all right. ? What happened?"
"Taylor, you were sucked into the wormhole," Jake said.
"I know that. The computer said that it detected it. I-I tried to contact you, but your signal was scrambled. Right after that, I felt the shuttle shake. ? What I meant to say was; where are we?"
"Why don't you look for yourself?"
"Let me get out of this floating chair first ? Oh, wow! There are two moons. Wait! What are those?"
Jake looked just past the shuttle and down to the planet. His jaw dropped. "Do you see what I see, Skip?"
"What the ? They almost look like NightHawk," said Skip.
"Yeah, they do," said Jake as he continued to stare at his two o'clock. Speeding their way were about fifteen smaller versions of NightHawk.
The cloned ships stopped and surrounded Mars II and NightHawk. Jake was able to get a closer look at the ships. The cockpits of the cloned ships seated two pilots, one in the front and one directly behind the first. Jake couldn't get a decent look at the faces of the pilots because their flight helmets, visors, and oxygen masks covered them. Jake wondered if he was actually looking at an alien species.
Jake heard his communicator crackle and then several tones, which almost deafened him and Skip. Suddenly, there was a voice at the other end. The voice spoke English remarkably well. "Identify yourselves."
Jake and Skip looked at each other, stunned. How could these aliens know English? Maybe they knew about the crew from Mars I?
"I repeat. Identify yourselves."
Jake finally gained his composure to speak. "Uh ? This is Commander Jake Palmer of the Mars II Space Shuttle. We-"
"That does not make sense. What is your unit calling number?"
"My what?"
"You heard me, soldier! What is your unit calling number, and where did you get this massive ship in front of you? It looks similar to one of our destroyers."
Jake was now annoyed. "First of all, I have no idea what a unit calling number is, and that ship in front of me is the Mars II Space Shuttle. We are on a rescue mission for the crew of Mars I and looking for Commander Adrian Palmer."
Suddenly, Jake and Skip grabbed their space helmets. Jake heard Taylor scream through the comlink. Jake felt shearing pain and ringing sounds shot through his head. He felt as if someone was in his head, chopping away at his brain. And then, after what seemed like an eternal pain, it subsided.
The leader of the small ships surrounding them spoke again, "You are human, are you not?"
Jake and Skip glanced at one another. Jake said, "Well, yes, we are."
"You are in direct violation of Lord Koroan Chast's law six-three-five: No human shall be in possession of Gnol technology. If said human is in possession, it shall be considered an act of war, and said human shall suffer imprisonment or death."
Skip looked at Jake, who had a look of shock on his face as well. What were these aliens talking about? Jake gritted his teeth together and spoke. "I assure you. These ships we have are our own. Our civilization designed and built them. We are on a peaceful mission. Please-"
"Enough! No human could ever design or build such technology! Humans are worthless creatures, not worthy to be around Gnols. If I had it my way, you would all be killed. However, since his lordship seems to enjoy using your pitiful kind as slaves, you will follow me now to the nearest slave camp on the surface. If you refuse to follow, you will die."
Jake watched in horror as he saw small gun turrets rise from the wings of the smaller ships. Jake didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure if NightHawk could outrun these swifter ships, and he certainly did not want to leave Taylor to the mercy of these aliens.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jake saw Mars II move. Taylor's voice crackled through his comlink. "Jake! Get out of here!"
Jake saw the massive shuttle bank to its right and take out three smaller ships with its nose. Small explosions penetrated the underside of the shuttle. Jake yelled, "Taylor! What are you doing?"
"Go now! Find your dad and find out what's going on. I've-"
Jake watched as the shuttle took about five more ships out. Jake was frozen. He couldn't speak, and he couldn't move. Finally, Jake felt Skip slap his helmet. "Jake! Go now! Taylor has made a way for us to escape!"
Sure enough, Taylor had created an escape route by taking out eight ships. Jake hit the aft thruster's button, and NightHawk sped away. The remaining five ships moved frantically out of the way of the damaged shuttle. Jake watched in his rearview screen as the smaller ships began to fire what looked like red laser blasts at the wounded shuttle.
"It looks like something out of Star Wars," said Skip.
Jake continued to watch in horror as explosions ripped the shuttle apart. Suddenly, there was a massive blast as the shuttle fell victim to its prey. Jake yelled, "No! Taylor!"
Jake felt a sudden urge to turn back and exact revenge on the people or things that had killed his dear friend. However, he knew that was impossible. The smaller versions of NightHawk obviously had more advanced weapons, and NightHawk wasn't equipped with any weapons at all, other than a few handguns in the weapon's locker. But what good were handguns in space?
Skip yelled again, "Jake! Get moving! Two of t
hem! They're on our tail!"
Jake looked and saw two smaller ships closing in. He pushed NightHawk to full speed. It wasn't any use. The smaller ships were much faster and closing fast. He decided that they weren't going to outrun them in space. He fired the left side thrusters and banked NightHawk to the right. He then fired the right side thrusters, which straightened the ship out. NightHawk was now on its way to the planet below.
Jake had to angle NightHawk to a forty-degree angle once the ship hit the atmosphere, which caused it to slow down. Fortunately, the two ships that followed had to do the same thing. Jake could feel the heat of the atmosphere as atmospheric particles collided with NightHawk's heat shield. Outside, he saw the orange glow of the particles combusting. He looked in his rearview screen and saw the orange glows of the ships pursuing him.
Once NightHawk was safely inside the atmosphere, Jake leveled it out and hit the control that switched the ship from spacecraft mode to jet mode. The jet engines came to life, and the windshield raised up to replace the plasma shield. Jake said out loud, "Now I'm in my element. See if you guys can catch me now!"
Jake looked to his left and saw a snow capped mountain range. He banked NightHawk to its left. "I'm heading toward those mountains. Maybe, I can zigzag my way through the peaks and lose them."
"Whatever you do; do it fast! They're catching up again," Skip said.
Jake looked at the rearview screen. Sure enough, his two pursuers were closing the distance between NightHawk and themselves. It was obvious to Jake that the smaller spacecrafts had jet capabilities as well. Jake glanced at NightHawk's speed - forty-five hundred miles per hour - he would have to slow down to about four hundred miles per hour when he hit the mountain range in order to maneuver between the peaks.
NightHawk buckled and slowed down a little. Jake saw red flashes of light dash by the ship.
Skip yelled, "They're firing at us! Did we get hit?"
"I don't know. Computer, damage report," Jake ordered.
"Minimal damage to the left wing. No critical systems were damaged," the computer replied.
A few seconds later, the two pursuers fired another volley of lasers toward their prey. Jake banked right and then left. The volley missed their target and disappeared into the mountain range ahead.
In an instant, NightHawk was in the mountain range. Jake slowed the speeding ship down. His pursuers did too. Jake weaved in and out of the mountain peaks. The ships behind him followed him move for move, firing all the while.
Jake was beginning to feel the fatigue as he maneuvered NightHawk in and out of mountain peaks. He didn't know how long he could zigzag, and at the same time, dodge laser fire. Suddenly, NightHawk shuddered again.
Jake lost control of the ship. Alarms buzzed and beeped throughout the ship as the spinning spacecraft plummeted to the valley floor below. Jake fought, with all his might, to regain control. Finally, the spinning ship leveled out.
Jake pulled back on the stick, and NightHawk skied upward.
Skip spoke. "Computer, damage report."
"Damage to the right jet engine. It is still operational."
"Jake, they've swung around, and they're behind us again. We need to do something now, or we're not going to make it!"
Jake leveled NightHawk out again. "What can we do? Those things behind us are faster, and we don't have any weapons."
Skip paused for a moment as NightHawk was hit by another round of laser fire. Luckily, the ship held together, and Jake managed to maintain control. "The fuel tank!" yelled Skip.
"What?"
"I've been measuring the time between their volleys of shots. The volley lasts about ten seconds and then there's a ten second delay, probably while their guns recharge."
"So . . ." said Jake as he dodged another round of laser fire.
"So, after their next round, I will count to seven seconds. On my mark, eject the jet fuel."
"Are you nuts? If I do that, we won't have any fuel left."
"Jake, you're a great pilot, and I know you can glide this thing to a safe but rough landing."
"But-"
"They've fired again," Skip said. He then counted to seven. "Now!"
Jake had enough faith in Skip to know when he was right. He ejected the fuel and both men watched as fuel sprayed out from the tail of NightHawk. As soon as the fuel tank emptied, NightHawk's pursuers fired. The blasts hit the ejected fuel and ignited. The lead pursuer couldn't get out of the way of the fireball. The fire engulfed the ship, causing the pilot to lose control. The ship slammed into the mountain peak ahead, creating an enormous explosion. The second pursuer managed to dodge the flame. He pulled up and leveled out, putting himself back in the chase.
Jake slapped Skip on the shoulder. "You're a genius."
"Look out!" Skip yelled.
Jake looked at his rearview screen. The second ship fired another round of laser blasts. Jake banked right and rolled NightHawk three hundred sixty degrees, causing the blasts to miss. Jake quickly glanced at the fuel gauge. It read empty.
NightHawk's computer chirped. "The jet fuel is now empty."
Jake rolled his eyes as he struggled to maintain the craft. "Yeah, thank you. I know that. ? Skip, look around for a flat piece of land. I'm going to have to try to land this thing on its belly. Hover mode is offline."
Jake dodged another round of plasma laser fire.
Skip pointed to his eleven o'clock. "Look! It looks like some sort of city."
Jake looked and saw what seemed to be a city in the valley below, and just beyond that, a flat field full of freshly fallen snow. "The snow, if it's deep enough, should provide us with some cushioning," Jake said.
Jake banked to his left just when his pursuer fired another round. NightHawk was sluggish as Jake yanked the flight stick left. They were lucky they had distanced themselves from their pursuer. Unfortunately, Jake could tell the enemy was closing ground again as NightHawk lost speed and altitude.
Jake pointed straight ahead. "You see that building just in front of us?"
"Yeah," Skip said.
"I'm heading straight for it."
Skip's eyes widened. "What? You'll never be able to get out of the way. We don't have enough power, and I don't know if you'll be able to turn, especially with how sluggish this thing felt the last time you turned."
Jake smiled confidently. "Trust me."
Skip looked at Jake and said, "That's what I'm afraid of."
The enemy behind the wounded ship closed in fast. It was now within fifty feet. The enemy pilot focused in on the fuselage of NightHawk and readied himself for the kill shot.
Skip closed his eyes as he prepared for impact.
Jake squeezed the flight stick and switched the ship from jet mode to space mode. Before NightHawk impaled itself into the tower of the building, he punched the button that activated the ship's right thrusters just as the enemy fired. Jake and Skip felt the force of the ship as it quickly changed its course. The edge of NightHawk's right wing was taken off by the building. Jake fought to maintain control.
The blasts from the enemy's ship hit the tower and ripped it from the rest of the building. The enemy didn't have enough time to move as the tower fell backwards and landed on it.
Skip opened his right eye to peek at the rearview screen. He saw the building's tower land on the enemy ship and then a large explosion. He opened his other eye and yelled, "Yes! You did it!"
"We're not out of the woods yet," said Jake, as he squeezed the flight stick with both hands, trying to keep the ship from spinning out of control. He managed to keep the ship level, and its nose up as it headed for the snow-covered field below. The tail hit first, and then the nose of the ship slammed into the ground. Jake felt as if his head was being ripped from his neck from the impact.
The wounded ship skidded out of control on its belly toward a grove of trees. Jake had no idea how fast they were going. He hit the reverse thruster button and hoped that would be enough to slow them down before they hit a gigantic t
ree in front of them, but it didn't work. Every system in the ship was offline. Jake closed his eyes just before NightHawk collided with the massive tree trunk.